Of Evergreens and Stones
by Badd Wolf
Summary: Christmas for the Tyler's had never been all that merry, especially for a certain girl named Rose.


**Title: **Of Evergreens and Stones.

**Type/Warning:** Fluff, slight angst, humor/ N/A

**Show(s)/Movie(s)/Book(s): **Doctor Who, seasons 1-2, 4

**Quote(s)/Song(s)/Lyrics(s): **N/A

**Summary:** Christmas for the Tyler's had never been all that merry, especially for a certain girl named Rose

**Setting: ** pre season 1 and onward.

**Pairing:** Drose (9&10/Rose), Human!Doctor/Rose,

**Author's Note**: I'm not whether this comes out happy or a bit sad. Oh well you decide.

Hopefully I'll be writing more holiday themed fics.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything! But dialogue and plot. All characters and original story lines belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

Rose's first Christmas had not been the best, at least from her mother had told her it hadn't. Her father had died before she could even begin to know the man, much less celebrate a holiday with him.

The Christmas that followed that tragic year wasn't really anything special. Jackie didn't have the best of jobs, nor the best pay. But she had always managed to get Rose something special. The doll she had been wanting for the past year, or the book that had caught her eye.

It was when she was twelve and she got the red bicycle that Rose got suspicious. Even more so when her mother claimed that she had no idea where it came from.

The next year, she got clothes that she wanted. And it continued on that way year after year. She would write letters, thanking Santa for the gifts and then search her mother's room, including the rest of the house, for the letters.

She never found them.

The only time she never got a present from the mysterious Santa was when she was 19. She was a bit busy traveling the whole of space and time with the Doctor.

He had decided that the best way for them to celebrate was to go to the planet that had nothing but evergreens on it. Rose had been a tad skeptical when he mentioned that the only inhabitants were monkeys and dresses.

Rose eventually came to the conclusion that the evergreens actually produced small seeds that had the appearance of dresses, which the monkey's (which had four eyes, three legs, and six tails) ate to survive.

It was something she would always remember. After all, he had tried to give her a present which ended with the two of them falling into a pit of some sort. Then the goo that they had landed in attracted the monkeys.

Running was not how she wanted to spend her holiday. Sadly, he had lost the present in the goo.

The next Christmas hadn't exactly started out well. He had changed everything about himself and then left her alone to defend the earth. The man she knew had left her behind on Christmas.

The way she felt was slightly reminiscent of how she felt after she learned what happened to father. The only difference, it hurt more because she _knew_ him. She _loved_ him. She felt more for a man she had only known a year than a man she was related to.

The following days after, he tried to make up for what had happened. Jokes and adventures. It didn't always work, until he brought her back to the planet of evergreens and monkeys. Back to the pit with the goo, and he jumped right in and started digging like he was trying to find something.

When he came back up, he had an object in his hand and he was covered in goo. He grinned at her as he sat down next to her. "Still intact and goo-less." He pointed out handing the box over to her.

She looked at him and then opened the small box.

It held something beautiful. A jewel she had admired on Sinforn. It was a golden hue but in different lights, it went from gold to blue to pink to purple hues. He had found a silver chain to hang it on.

"It's sturdy." He said, as he watched her reaction. Watching the smile grow on her face. "It'll never break, tarnish, it'll last forever."

She looked at him, grinning from ear to ear. "Thank you."

Two months before Christmas, she was left behind again. This time on a beach.

She was always being left behind; she could never bring herself to do the leaving. Except once, but she always regretted it.

She refused to wear the necklace from then on. In fact, she refused to wear anything that reminded her of her time with him.

Two years passed before she saw her world again. Saw him again.

But she was left again, only she had him still. He was different from _him_, but it was still _him._

The whole idea of it made her head hurt sometimes.

The year had come and gone, and it was Christmas again.

Rose Tyler was never very fond of Christmas. Even though it was considered a time to be with loved ones, Rose was hardly with them all at the same time.

Only once, shortly after he had changed his face.

This year, she had everyone. Her mum, dad, Tony and now The Doctor or Nathan as he liked to be called.

After everything had been cleaned up and Tony put to bed, Rose's parents wandered off to their own corner of the house until morning leaving Rose and Nathan by themselves. The holiday had passed without aliens or daleks or any kind of creature to wreck it.

But Nathan still had one last present to give her.

She rolled her eyes before unwrapped the small box.

The necklace lay inside, glinting in the light, as if it was smiling at her. She frowned for a moment before looking at him.

"That's not it." He said, still smiling, taking the box gently from her hands to remove the necklace and the fabric that it lay on to reveal another small box, which he fiddled with for a moment before looking back at her. "Um…while you were gone, after we fell in the goo the first time. The first time we went back home and your mum slapped me."

She nodded. He continued, "Well when I left, for a little bit, I went back to Sinforn to try and find the jewel again since it had been lost in the goo. Well I didn't find one that was big enough for a necklace nor the same colors, but um…. I never got enough courage to give it to you."

He handed the smaller box over to her, looking about a little nervously before actually looking at her.

She took the box and opened it up slowly. A ring with the same type of stone. The hues were different, a dark blue and soft gold with a dash of white danced before her eyes.

"It's gorgeous." She smiled faintly before pressing her lips to his. "Thank you."

He only grinned at her.

Christmas had never been the best of times for Rose, considering what usually happened. Whether it be her father being absent, a man she loved changing to drastically, or being left behind.

Even though she had been technically left behind again, but it wasn't completely. This time he had left himself and his heart behind with her.


End file.
